Manners
by Passionate Cec
Summary: After a life changing event, Helen takes in the new element in her life. Fluff alert.


FLUFF!

This is fluffy. This is very, very, very fluffy. Exactly 1000 words of fluff.

You've been warned. :P

Other than that there's not much to say except that I love reviews. They make me very happy. Let me know what you think about this. :D Oh and, this is the 50th fic I post here. Hehe! :D

Sanctuary and its characters do not belong to me. No copyright infringement intended.

Enjoy. :)**  
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**Manners**

Certainly this was not the first baby she held.

After all, Helen was a doctor and, back in the late 19th Century, when she had been the only female physician, a surprising number of women trusted her with their health and that of their children.

So she had held her fair share of fussy and screaming little humans but it had been impersonal, clinical and hurried. Often she had barely gotten to actually hold them. They had remained in their nurse's lap while she examined them, making them even less happy than when she had first seen them as she entered the waiting room or the bedroom. And when she had held them, it had been quick and she had only examined them while vainly trying to reassure them. It had not been a time for mothering and hugs.

After John had left and she had had to freeze her own child, she had been even less inclined to see babies and children and she had often thought about not working at the clinic anymore and not doing any more rounds. James had offered to be the one to see all the babies and young children who stepped into their practice but she had politely declined – after a dozen women had argued that Dr. Watson was a very good doctor but that Dr. Magnus understood them and their children much better.

It had been the source of endless teasing and mocking, Helen recalled with a fond smile.

And then there were the few female friends she had had over the years. They were few and far between and the ones who had children were even rarer. She had often been the children's physician along with the mothers' friend. The clinical consult had been slightly less impersonal and she had held the babies a little longer, allowing them time to press their faces against the folds of her dresses so they could feel a modicum of comfort and safety.

If she thought really hard, she was quite convinced she could recall every single child she had ever held along with their names and conditions. Though that was not due to any kind of miracle. She treated entire families for years so that she saw the children grow and the parents age.

So this was definitely not the first time she held a baby. But it was completely different from every other time.

Because this time, it was her very own baby that she was holding. Her little girl who had just spent the past few months in her belly, living from every breath she took and every piece of food she ingested. Her little girl who had always woken up around dinner time, kicked up a storm in her belly all night, keeping her awake before finally settling down around seven in the morning. She would have to teach the little lady some manners.

But for the moment, she was more concerned with the squirming little thing which did not want to keep still in her arms. She finally understood what it was like to hold her own child, her very flesh and blood.

The baby was tucked against her chest, fragile little head resting on her arm, face still slightly scrunched up and frowning up at her with the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen. She was a scientist; she knew that what made babies so adorable and attractive was the fact that their eyes had already reached their adult size while the rest of their features were still a long way from fully grown. She knew that it gave them that wide eyed look that had everyone melting on the spot.

But she would be damned if her baby wasn't the most adorable child she had ever seen. She was a little bit on the small side but she was born three weeks early. Unsurprisingly, her eyes were bright blue and she seemed to be looking all around her at the new environment, the new world in which she had just arrived. Helen noticed that Ashley had kicked and punched the blanket away. Again. And she was still waving her little fists in the air.

Helen carefully maneuvered a hand away from under the baby to trace the knuckles of a little hand. The fingers uncurled somewhat and, with a bright grin of untamed happiness, she slipped her pinky beneath them, her smile brightening even more when the tiny fingers held her pinky in a death grip.

She was a bit more confident than she had been a mere few hours ago when the nurse who had assisted her in labour had handed her the pink and screaming little bundle. At that point, she had been unbelievably happy to finally be holding her daughter but she had also been wondering what the Hell she was doing along with how the Hell to hold the screaming little bundle.

She had been glad to be lying down or she was certain she would have dropped her baby. She had not dared holding her too close or too tight for fear of hurting her daughter but Ashley had done the job herself. She had pressed her face against her mother's chest, letting out a happy gurgle. Helen's arm had tightened around her baby and she had held her close, watching her child as she drifted off safely tucked in her arms.

The grip on her pinky was not slackening and she leaned down to press her lips against the little forehead and the tuft of blonde hair on her daughter's head.

'You, my darling, are perfect.' She breathed against the soft and delicate skin.

Her lips lingered against the little forehead and, suddenly, Ashley's free fist connected directly and violently with her throat. She pulled up and coughed before looking back down at the innocent looking baby and grinning brightly.

'Yes, manners will have to be brought up, my sweet. Mummy is not the one you should punch in the throat.'


End file.
